Business Insider: Low Bids Could Doom Hulu Auction

The much-hyped Hulu auction may end up a bust because “the bids are not coming in as high as (the company’s backers) hoped,” Business Insider reports. Hulu was looking for more than $2B, but the site has said that Dish Network came in at $1.9B. Google’s believed to have topped that with $4B, but that’s contingent on program licensing terms that Hulu’s owners Disney, News Corp, and Comcast apparently can’t swallow. That’s exactly the dilemma that many executives anticipated in June when Hulu put up the “for sale” sign. News Corp COO Chase Carey also indicated last month that his company would be willing to hang on to Hulu. The online video venture’s CEO Jason Kilar and Disney are believed to be the ones who are most eager to sell.

8 Comments

Why would anyone buy Hulu (with its small catalog and only 1 million subs) for $2 billion (or $4 billion) if you can get Netflix (with 25 million subs) for only $6 billion???
Is google retarded?

Jesse • on Sep 30, 2011 3:01 pm

A lot of the attractiveness that Hulu has is the streaming technology. Dish Network is bidding for it because it wants the technology to empower its Blockbuster streaming service.

And then of course any Hulu deal would have to include temporary exclusive content from Fox, Disney-ABC, and NBCUniversal making it the best service to go to for current television content. Shows like Parks and Recreation, Family Guy, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Modern Family, Glee, etc. would make a streaming service pretty attractive under the right hands.

nick • on Sep 30, 2011 3:01 pm

i may sound stupid for asking this, but why doesnt netflix throw its hat in there? or even amazon for that matter. or maybe this would pump some life into blockbuster. either way, these streaming/rental companies would be buying their competition instead of letting someone like Dish take it.

tyler • on Sep 30, 2011 3:01 pm

they may all be in the digital distribution game, but they have markedly different business models.

not to mention that netflix even come close to having the cash (or the capacity to raise that kind of debt)

Jesse • on Sep 30, 2011 3:01 pm

Netflix has a lot of problems right now, particularly with a sharply dropping stock price and PR problems concerning pissed off consumers. They cannot devote the time, effort, and capital right now to go into acquisitions.

Amazon did bid for Hulu, they were beat by offers from Google and Dish Network.

no $ • on Sep 30, 2011 3:01 pm

because public filings show that as of the last quarter, Netflix has $376 million on its balance sheet, far from the $2-4 billion necessary.